OVERVIEW OF POPULATION GROWTH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
In the year 2007, the number of people in Britain over the age of 65 outnumbered the number of people under 16 years old. On average, women are having 1.9 children now, the highest figure since 1973. However, this is below the replacement rate of 2.075 in the UK, and far lower than 2.93 children in 1964.
The UK Office for National Statistics projected in 2011 that by 2035, the UK population is expected to increase to just over 73 million people, at an annual growth rate of 0.6 percent per annum. The average (median) population age was 39.9 in 2010, and projected to increase to 42.2 by 2035.
A lot of money is spent on benefits targeting elderly people. 65% of the Department for Work and Pensions benefit expenditure goes to retirees or people over working age, which added up to £100 billion in 2010 2011. This amounts to one-seventh of public expenditure.
Main causes of this aging population in the United Kingdom is partially the end-result of the age structure of the population alive today. The main contributors to this would be the baby boom in the 1960s. It is also a direct result of increased longevity. A man born in the United Kingdom back in 1981 could expect to live up to 84 years old. Today, the figure has increased to 89 and by 2030 it is predicted to rise of 91.
The video below will provide more information about this problem of population growth in the UK.
The UK Office for National Statistics projected in 2011 that by 2035, the UK population is expected to increase to just over 73 million people, at an annual growth rate of 0.6 percent per annum. The average (median) population age was 39.9 in 2010, and projected to increase to 42.2 by 2035.
A lot of money is spent on benefits targeting elderly people. 65% of the Department for Work and Pensions benefit expenditure goes to retirees or people over working age, which added up to £100 billion in 2010 2011. This amounts to one-seventh of public expenditure.
Main causes of this aging population in the United Kingdom is partially the end-result of the age structure of the population alive today. The main contributors to this would be the baby boom in the 1960s. It is also a direct result of increased longevity. A man born in the United Kingdom back in 1981 could expect to live up to 84 years old. Today, the figure has increased to 89 and by 2030 it is predicted to rise of 91.
The video below will provide more information about this problem of population growth in the UK.
The good news, on the other hand, is that women in UK are having more children than a decade ago, up to 18 percent increase in England and Wales. Compared to 1990, where the crude birth rates was 12.5 per 1000, this figure dipped to 11.3 in 2001/2002, and has been steadily climbing up to 12.8 in 2012 and 2013. This can be attributed to improvements in fertility treatments which allow people to start families later. Another explanation is the growing population of second generation migrants - more than 25 percent of babies born in England and Wales are from mothers who arrived in Britain from other countries.
TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT AGE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE UK
Like Japan, the UK is also facing the problem of an aging population. The high dependency ratio on the working population will have an impact on the UK economy. However, the population pyramid for the UK shows a wider base, compared to Japan. The next few pages will explore some of the policies implemented and their impacts on the population and its growth.